l’œil de clairvaux
2015
éditions Trans Photographic Press
Livre en réalité augmentée (2015-2020), 16x32cm fermé et 16x64cm ouvert
Préface de Christiane Taubira - Textes de Philippe Artières, Sonya Faure, Jean-François Leroux-Dhuys, Denis Salas, Olivier Marbœuf - Design interactif Julie Stephen Chheng

--------Prix Beau livre, 4ème Salon du Livre du Barreau de Paris, ex-aequo avec Murmures pour la jeunesse de Christiane Taubira, 2016


"Ces portraits qui ont l’air de flotter, de claquer au vent, prolongent les images papiers de l’objet livre. A-t-on dit à quel point le concept de réalité augmentée était paradoxal pour dire la prison ? Ironique, pour montrer une réalité aussi restreinte que celle de l’enfermement ? Avec ses portraits vidéos qui sautent du livre à nos écrans de téléphone, Marion Lachaise et les détenus de Clairvaux creusent des tunnels, tressent des draps en guise de cordes, affrètent des hélicoptères pour que la parole des reclus arrive jusqu’à nous." Sonya Faure in l’œil de clairvaux


































the eye of clairvaux is an artist's book in augmented reality about the infamous Clairvaux prison. I made seven video portraits of inmates at this prison known as a "Maison centrale". It is a high-security prison for men sentenced to very long terms. The portraits are a process of sculpture and video projection. I call them "antiportraits".
An inmate J-P said « It is important for prisoners to be able to feel alive. »
At Clairvaux, there are two prisons side by side: the "Maison centrale" and the "Grand cloître". The old convent, turned into prison under Napoleon, is empty today. "The Eye of Clairvaux" is the relationship between the reality of confinement and the history of the prison.
The book opens in the middle as if the reader has entered the prison. After downloading the application, customers can scan pages to watch a video, hear a recording or read a text.
F. said "In front of my cell there is a tree, it's huge except that they pruned it a little. When the wind blows we hear whistling in branches. That pleases me."
Thanks to you this project will allow the words of the inmates to circulate freely.
Djamel said "Just now, when you surprised me, I was watching at a finch, a finch on the barbed wire. It was a male, I recognized him!"
Akim said "In prison, I prefer the nigh...and outside, I prefer the day..."

traduction Timothy Perkins